454 WHAT IS THE SUN MADE OF ? 



firm our conclusions as to the moon's physical structure as 

 observed by the telescope. 



But as for the sun ninety-four millions of miles away 

 there seemed no hope that we should ever succeed in making 

 a closer chemical acquaintanceship with him. This has still 

 been effected ; and, without giving a detailed narrative of how 

 it has been effected, I shall do well to contemplate the bonds 

 of union and acquaintanceship, so to speak, that subsist be- 

 tween the sun and ourselves. 



Firstly, we maintain a bond of acquaintanceship with the 

 sun through the intervention of the light that emanates from 

 him; and this we may denominate the bond of popular 

 acquaintanceship. Between our great luminary and the 

 philosopher, there is another bond of acquaintanceship the 

 force of gravitation. 



"Whereas, however, any considerable knowledge of the 

 laws of gravitation requires close study, a considerable know- 

 ledge of the properties of light is forced upon us, willingly 

 enough, by the very construction of our eyes, and the neces- 

 sities of our existence. 



Astronomers, long ago, reasoning upon facts to which 

 their experiments led them, came to the conclusion, that 

 the sun, regarded as a whole, is lighter, size for size, than the 

 earth ; only about a fourth of the earth's weight, indeed. 



To put the case in another way: assuming that the whole 

 materials of the sun could be intimately mingled, so as to 

 yield an average, and then a piece cut out of the sun exactly 

 as big as our earth, such piece would only weigh about one- 

 fourth of that our own planet weighs. To explain in what 

 manner the weighing of the sun has been effected, would be 

 altogether impossible here. 



The weighing has been accomplished, and accomplished 

 through gravitation ; and this, until very recently, was all we 

 knew in regard to the composition of the sun. Whether it 

 were made up of materials wholly different from those of our 



